A delivery truck driver died Monday when he was crushed by steel rebar he was unloading at the 49ers stadium construction site in Santa Clara, the second worker fatality there in four months, authorities said.

Edward Lake II, a 60-year-old Vacaville resident who was engaged to be married, died at a hospital shortly after the 6:30 a.m. incident, said Turner-Devcon, the general contractor for the stadium project.

As state and local agencies began investigating the accident, the contractor shut down the job site for the day, but said later that workers had been cleared to return Tuesday, at which time they would take part in safety meetings and be offered counseling.

Jonathan Harvey, a co-director of the project for Turner-Devcon, said workers were devastated.

"I think at first it was shock, but then it was - it's tragic," he said. "We had a fellow co-worker lose their life, and I think that sank in really quick. It's pretty emotional. It's a little banged up in there."

The $1.2 billion stadium, to be called Levi's Stadium, is being readied to open for the 2014 season.

Bundle of rebar

Peter Melton, a spokesman for Cal/OSHA, the state agency that investigates workplace deaths and injuries, said Lake died "when a bundle of rebar he was unloading fell on him."

Lake was an employee of Gerdau, a multinational steel company headquartered in Tampa, Fla. In a statement, Gerdau officials said he worked out of Napa Reinforcing Steel, one of two Bay Area locations where the company fabricates rebar.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends," the statement said.

Lake, who was the father of a grown daughter, had been retired. But he was "bored" sitting at home and decided to go back to work in recent months, said neighbor Laura Graves, 36. That meant leaving home at 4 a.m., but he never complained, she said.

"We were just talking a couple of days ago," Graves said. "He was telling me how much he loved his job."

She described Lake as a "very kind and loving person" who would do "anything for anybody at any point in time." Her voice broke as she described Lake as "like a dad to me," dispensing advice on life.

His death is "hard to believe," she said. "It's still sinking in."

Records show a division of the steel company, Gerdau Reinforcing Steel West of San Diego, was cited for an unspecified violation this year by regulators, who sought to fine Gerdau. The citation related to a job in Rohnert Park.

The 49ers, in their own statement, said, "Our sincerest thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and co-workers affected by this tragedy."

The death came three days after California regulators concluded that an earlier fatality at the site was an unexplained accident that did not merit sanctions for the companies involved.

Donald White, 63, died June 11 after he was hit with an elevator counterweight while on a ladder at the bottom of a shaft.

Experienced mechanic

"We are not going to cite them for that," Melton said Monday. "It appears the deceased knew the elevator was in motion - he was an experienced mechanic - and for whatever reason he stayed where he was."

Melton said White had been in communication with another worker operating the elevator - and, in fact, had sent the worker up in the elevator to retrieve a tool.

The victim's son, Cody White, 32, of Redwood City, said his father had spent 43 years in the elevator construction trade. He said the death is as much a mystery now as when it happened.

"It doesn't make any sense," Cody White said. "Why would he be there? He (knew) where to be and where not to be."

He said his father had told him that crews at the Levi's Stadium site were working hard to meet construction deadlines.

"When you are trying to rush a stadium so quick, accidents will happen," Cody White said. "One thing my dad told me is that everyone was working hard out there. He said, 'Everybody is out there busting his ass to finish their job.'